Ronan
The apartment building wasn’t much different from my own. Doormen questioned our identities as we entered, and as soon as we got through them, I headed straight to the front desk and slammed my palms down on it. The woman seated behind leaped off her chair, her eyes widening as she spotted Kade hulking beside me clad in full tactical gear.
“Tell me where to find Adrian Petrov,” I said.
“I-I can’t do that,” she stammered. “Privacy law—”
“I don’t care.” I cut her off. “Get your manager. Now.”
She took a lingering look at Kade, then went to the door behind the desk and knocked. “Sir, someone is asking for you.”
A small, bespectacled man stepped out of the office. His upper lip curled at the sight of us. “Can I help you, gentlemen?”
The way he said gentlemen left no doubt he thought that was the last thing we were.
“We need Adrian Petrov’s apartment number, right the fuck now,” Kade barked, and the little man flinched, his hand fluttering to his chest.
“I’m afraid we can’t give out those details unless you have a warrant.”
I grabbed my phone from my pocket and opened a photo of Willow, then shoved it over the desk toward him. “This woman has been abducted, and the police are on their way as we speak. I may not have a warrant, but you can bet your ass they do. If you’ve seen her, and you know what’s good for you, you’ll tell me where to find her.”
The manager grew alarmed. Kade stepped forward, scowling darkly, and the guy held his hands up and stammered a number. He directed the receptionist to give us a key.
“Thank you,” I said crisply. “Let’s go. We don’t have time to waste.”
One of Kade’s men split off to find the emergency exit for Petrov’s apartment while the rest of us took the elevator to the floor directly below Petrov’s apartment, then the stairs to the top.
Kade entered the corridor first, and I took the rear.
Only one man stood guard, although several chairs were clustered nearby, giving the impression he’d recently had company. He dropped to the ground when Kade Tased him. Sean grabbed flexicuffs and secured the man’s wrists and ankles, then withdrew tape from one of his pockets and tore a strip off to cover the man’s mouth. Meanwhile, Kade removed the key from the guard’s pocket and unlocked the apartment door. We entered in single file.
The place was ostentatious as hell.
We shifted through the foyer and into the living area, where we encountered another guard. Sean subdued him while the rest of us moved on. We found another man apparently searching a bedroom off the hall. I grabbed him from behind and clamped a hand over his mouth while Kade tied and gagged him. Then we shut the door to muffle any sounds. Sean rejoined us and took up the rear as we made our way along the corridor.
I glanced down and froze, noticing blood spots on the floor. I touched Kade’s shoulder, gesturing at them. His lips pressed together, but he didn’t say anything.
We followed the droplets until we reached the end of the hall.
Kade and Sean took the room to the left while I, and two other men, took the room to the right.
Petrov stood in the center, his back to us.
The air must have shifted, or perhaps we made a noise, because he spun wildly and raised a gun.
“I’ll shoot,” he cried.
I should have focused on the gun, but a patch of red above his waistband caught my eye. The front of his shirt was drenched with blood.
Holy shit.
Had Willow done that?
“There are three of us and one of you,” I reminded him.
Where is Willow?
The fact Petrov was here led me to believe Willow wasn’t far away. Hopefully, the blood from the hall belonged only to him.
“I’m the one with a gun aimed at your head,” Petrov growled. “I’ve shot men before, and I’m not afraid to shoot you. In fact, I’ll take pleasure in it.”
“Do it, then.” I noticed one of my support crew shifting silently to the right, so I opened my arms and egged Petrov on. “I don’t think you can, old man.”
His hands shook. He lined up a shot, but just as he was about to squeeze the trigger, a figure dived at him, hitting him in the waist and taking him to the ground.
I saw a flash of blonde hair as the shot went wild, hitting the roof.
Willow.
Plaster crumbled to the floor. I jumped out of the way.
Petrov grabbed Willow’s hair and wrenched, but before he could do anything else, my man on the right hit him with the butt of a handgun. He let go, dazed, and I took advantage of the chance to wrestle the gun from his hand. Then, between the group of us, we managed to subdue him.
Seconds later, Kade and Sean appeared in the doorway.
“Everyone okay?” Kade asked. “We heard a shot.”
“Didn’t hit anyone,” I replied.
“Thank God. The apartment is clear,” Kade said. “It was just the three men we’ve already dealt with, plus our buddy on the floor.”
“You’re sure?” I asked.
He nodded.
“Good.” I turned to Willow, who was standing over Petrov, wide-eyed. “Sweetheart. You’re okay.”
She flung herself at me. “I’m so glad to see you.”
I wrapped my arms around her and inhaled her delicious vanilla scent. She trembled in my embrace.
“You didn’t give him the company, did you?” she asked.
“No, but I would have.” I peppered kisses all over her face, relief sinking deep into my bones. “I love you,” I told her. “I was scared out of my fucking mind when I realized you’d been taken.”
She gazed up at me with those glorious green eyes and opened her mouth to speak, but I pressed a finger to her lips. The room had fallen quiet, and I noticed the others had cleared out, taking Petrov with them.
“I need to say this. When I got snappy about you packing a bag, it wasn’t only because I wanted to protect you. I did—I think I’ll always worry—but the only reason I want you to live with me is because I’m crazy about you. I know it’s fast, and I’m happy to wait as long as you need, but I want you to know that how I feel has nothing to do with the danger you’ve been in. I can’t completely separate love from my protective instincts, because they’ll always go hand in hand. I love you, so I’m protective of you. That’s just the way it is. But it doesn’t mean I love you less.”
“I love you too, Ronan.” She went onto her toes and kissed me. “I was just overwhelmed by everything that had happened.” She framed my face between her hands. “Thank you for coming. I might not be able to count on Tom to have my back—he’s really shown where his loyalty lies—but I knew you’d be here, I trusted myself to survive until you came, and I’m sorry for pushing you away.”
Willow
“I’m sorry for making you feel like you had to,” he replied, dipping his head to kiss me again.
I smiled up at him. “How about we just agree to move forward from here. I’m Willow, you’re Ronan, and we love each other. That’s all there is to it.” I glanced around. “After all, this isn’t exactly the best place for a heart-to-heart.”
His lips curved gently. “Sounds perfect.” Then he shook his head. “When I saw you fly across the room, you nearly gave me a heart attack.”
“I couldn’t let him hurt you.”
“Well, he won’t be hurting anyone from now on. At least, not outside of prison.”
“Thank God.” I couldn’t believe it was actually over.
When I’d heard Petrov enter the room, I’d worried the sound of my heart battering against my rib cage would alert him to my presence, but before he’d had a chance to find me, Ronan had charged in like that white knight he’d told me he’s not.
Kade stuck his head in the door. “Police are here.”
Ronan met my eyes. “We’ll talk more later. You’re fine to answer their questions? I can buy you a little time to recover if you need it.”
“No, I’ll be fine. The sooner it’s over, the better. I want to erase this from my mind.”
“Fair enough.” He offered me a hand, and I took it.
Together, we walked out to the living area, where Ronan’s companions had gathered Petrov and his three men. They sat in the corner, bound, gagged, and glaring.
Detective Lee looked rather amused.
“Good job subduing them,” she said. “Please tell me you didn’t enter illegally.”
“We had a key,” Ronan replied evasively.
“Uh-huh.” She didn’t press, and for that, I was grateful. She directed one of the officers to read the men their rights, then approached me. She moved slowly, as if worried she might scare me. Her caution wasn’t necessary, but I appreciated the thought. “I’m pleased you’re okay, Miss Lennox.”
“Willow.” Miss Lennox sounded so formal.
“Willow,” she amended. “We’ll need to have you looked over by a paramedic, but in the meantime, how do you feel about answering some questions?”
I glanced at Petrov, whose hateful stare burned into me, and bit my lip. “Could we do it somewhere else? I don’t want to be in the same room as that man.”
She nodded. “We’ll take you to the station and have a paramedic meet us there. Does that sound all right to you?”
I nodded.
Ronan curled an arm around my shoulders. “I’m coming, too.”
“I’d expect nothing less.” The detective checked her watch. “We’ll go in a couple of minutes. Hold on.” She strode over to the officers and spoke softly enough that I couldn’t hear.
Ronan’s fingers intertwined with mine, and our palms pressed together.
I raised my eyes to his and smiled, then winced at a flash of pain on the side of my face.
“I’ll be with you every step of the way,” he promised.
I squeezed his hand. “I know.”
Even if he wasn’t, I could handle it on my own. If I could fight off my kidnapper, I could do anything.
I cuddled into his chest while he spoke to Kade about transportation. They agreed that the King’s Security men would take their vehicle to the office after giving statements to the police while Ronan and Kade would accompany me to the station. I tried to argue that they didn’t both need to come, but they wouldn’t hear of anything else.
Secretly, I liked that. It was nice to have people I could trust at my back.
Detective Lee returned from speaking to the officers and cocked her head. “It seems Petrov has an injury he refuses to speak about. You wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?”
My cheeks heated, and I glanced sideways, noting that both Ronan and Kade were giving me their undivided attention. Since the stab wound was obvious, I assumed she was asking what else I’d done to him. “I punched his balls.”
A booming laugh ripped from Kade’s throat. “Good girl.” His tone was approving. “Maybe you didn’t need us to rush to the rescue after all.”
Detective Lee smirked. “I like you,” she said. “Come on. Let’s go take your statement. I’m sure you want to get home so Ronan can check you over and reassure himself you’re not injured.”
Ronan
When we were finally free to leave the police station and Willow had called Sage to let her know everything was okay, I took her back to my penthouse and we showered together. I soaped up her body, my hands lingering over the bruises on her wrists and tracing the marks on her face. Nobody would have the opportunity to hurt her again. I’d make sure of it. I gestured for her to turn, and when she did, I dropped kisses across the tops of her shoulders and lathered shampoo in her hair.
“I love you,” I murmured, knowing I’d say it whenever I could for the rest of our lives.
“Love you too.”
Despite my protests, she gave my body the same gentle and thorough treatment I’d given hers. Then I turned off the shower and we dried. I handed her a plush robe since her clothing was no longer here and pulled on jeans and a T-shirt.
“Sit down,” I said when we reached the living area. “I’m going to make us a drink.”
I fixed her a cup of hot cocoa with plenty of sugar because her adrenaline was bound to crash soon, and then she’d be exhausted. I made myself a coffee and carried both drinks to the table by the sofa, where I sat and drew her into my arms.
“You were amazing today. It was so brave of you to take on Petrov.”
Foolish, perhaps, but definitely brave.
She snuggled closer. “Thanks for having my back. Again.”
“I always will.” I kissed the top of her head. “Even if you don’t need me to.”
She tilted her face up and smiled. “I might not always need you, but I’ll always want you, and that’s much better.”
I held her close. “No more worrying about whether this is real or not, all right?”
“It’s real.” She rested her head on my shoulder and pressed a kiss to the side of my neck. “No matter how fast or unconventional, we are one hundred percent the real deal.”
I nuzzled her, loving the fact she smelled of my soap. She belonged here, and we belonged together. “Stay with me tonight?” I wasn’t ready to let her go yet.
She smiled, and it was so beautiful that my insides flipped over. “I’ll stay every night with you, if you’ll have me. But I’m keeping an apartment too. At least until you’ve taken me on our first date.”
I chuckled. “You got it, sweetheart.”
It didn’t matter when she moved in. All that mattered was the fact she loved me and one day, I’d make her my wife.
But for now, we could take it as slow as she wanted. We had all the time in the world.